It really did seem as though the course of this true love was about to run smooth. Durban, to whom Beatrice explained all that had taken place during Ruck's visit, heard what she had to say in silence, and seemed relieved when he heard the whole.

"I am glad that Mr. Paslow arrived at the moment," said Durban, when the story was ended. "He and the Major now understand one another."

"I never knew that Vivian was acquainted with Major Ruck."

"He met him at Mr. Alpenny's town office, missy."

"The Major seemed to threaten Vivian," observed the girl thoughtfully.

Durban shrugged his fat shoulders. "That is so like the Major," he retorted carelessly; "he is all stage thunder. Now that he knows you have not the necklace, he will trouble you no more. Mr. Paslow is not rich, missy; and you have lost the master's money; still, I should like you to marry the man you love, and go away."

"Why do you want me to go away?" she demanded peremptorily.

"It will be better," murmured Durban, uneasily.

"You are still keeping something from me, Durban?"

"Nothing that is necessary for you to know, missy."

Beatrice saw very well that the old servant was fencing, and wondered what it was that he feared. "The necklace?" she said suddenly.

"I do not know where it is, missy."

"Did you ever see it?"

"Once. Colonel Hall showed it to me--a very fine set of diamonds."

"Where did Colonel Hall get it?"

"I cannot say--somewhere in the West Indies, I think."

"You were Colonel Hall's servant in the West Indies, Durban?"

"I was, missy." Durban looked at her with fire in his dark eyes. "He was the best of masters, and I loved him. He brought me to this place with him, and here he met with his death."

"Do you know who killed him?"

"No, missy, I do not."

"Why did you take service with Mr. Alpenny?"

"I was poor," said Durban, with a shrug, "and my master, the Colonel, was dead. I had no home, and I was thankful to accept the situation. I might not have stayed in it for so long, missy, but that Mr. Alpenny married. It was you who have kept me at The Camp all these years."

"And what about Mrs. Hall?"

"Nothing, missy. She was a silent lady. I know very little about her."

"Durban"--Beatrice looked at him keenly--"are you telling me the truth?"

"I am, missy. Why should I tell you a lie? All I know of Mrs. Hall is, that she was the daughter of a West Indian planter, who was my father's master in the time of slavery. I was born on the estate, and afterwards entered the service of Colonel Hall--a captain he was then--to whom I became greatly attached. He saw Mrs. Hall, and fell in love with her. They married, but did not get on well together, for what reason I cannot tell you. They came here to see Mr. Paslow's father, who was an old friend of the Colonel's. Mrs. Hall stopped in London for a time, and then came down for one night with the nurse and her child. My master was murdered, and the necklace disappeared. That is all I know."

"But, Durban, Major Ruck says that the Colonel gave the necklace to my mother before his death."

"That is not true," cried Durban vehemently, and his eyes blazed. "There was no reason why he should give it to--to--Mrs. Hedge. And I saw the necklace in the Colonel's hands on the very night the crime was committed. Yes, and I saw him place it in the green box beside his bed. Next morning the window was open, the Colonel was lying dead with a cut throat, and the Obi necklace was gone. I can tell you no more, and I don't know why you wish to know all this."

"Because," said Beatrice slowly, "it is my belief that the same man with the black patch who murdered Colonel Hall murdered Mr. Alpenny; and in both cases I believe that the murder was committed for the sake of this necklace."

"I did not know that Mr. Alpenny had it, missy."

"Major Ruck says that he had, and married my mother for the sake of the necklace, which doubtless--as it has not been found after his death--he turned into money."

"It might be so," murmured Durban moodily. "Major Ruck knew a great deal about Mr. Alpenny which I did not know. He was a kind of decoy duck to the master--a man about town who brought foolish youths to borrow money. A dangerous man, missy, and one you are well rid of. Missy"--he laid his hand on her arm--"be advised; seek to know no more. Mr. Alpenny's life was not a good one or a clean one. Marry Mr. Paslow, and go away."

"I'll think of it, Durban," said Beatrice, after a few moments of thought, and there the conversation ended for the time being.

All the same, Beatrice had no idea of going away. She even thought that she would not marry Vivian Paslow until things were made clear, and she--so to speak--knew where she stood. What with Vivian's marriage to Maud Ellis, and the late Mr. Alpenny's hints that the young man had committed crimes, there was much in Paslow's life which she did not understand. Had she loved him less, she would have had nothing more to do with him. But she did love him with all her heart and soul; consequently she believed that he was more sinned against than sinning. It was nothing out of the common that a young man in London should be entrapped into such a marriage; and, after all, it was not unusual that Vivian should strive to hide from her--the woman he really loved--the folly of which he had been guilty eight years ago. That she could forgive, and did forgive, and was ready to marry her lover as soon as he wished. But she could not rid herself of a vague fear that if she did marry him, it would only be the beginning of fresh misery. Durban's desire that the young couple should go away, seemed to her ominous; and Vivian, although under stress of circumstances had confessed the marriage, did not seem to be communicative regarding the other mysteries. What if at the back of all these things lurked some terrible scandal which might ruin her happiness and that of Paslow's?

While thinking thus, it occurred to Beatrice that she had never learned what Vivian had done on that night when he left her under the Witches' Oak. They were together walking in the garden after dinner when she considered this question, and she asked Vivian at once to explain. He removed his cigar and looked at her searchingly.

"What a woman you are to ask questions!" he said, with a forced laugh.

"I want them answered," said Beatrice rather imperiously.

Vivian shrugged his shoulders. "I am not averse to doing so," he said in a weary manner. "Well, on that night I left you and ran to see who was watching. It was a red-headed little beast called Waterloo, employed as a spy by Mr. Alpenny!"

"I know him--I have seen him."

"Seen him?" Vivian started and looked uneasy. "When?--where?"

"In this very garden." And Beatrice related how the tramp had suddenly appeared to mar the beauty of the scene. "He wanted to see you," she concluded, "but Durban sent him away."

"Had I seen the brute I should have horsewhipped him," cried the young man angrily. "He was a spy of Alpenny's."

"On me?--on you?"

"On us both. Alpenny knew that I loved you, and did not want us to meet. He told Waterloo, who was hanging round The Camp, to keep his eye on you and on me. Waterloo confessed----"

"Did you catch him?"

"Yes, I did, and nearly broke his neck. He confessed that he had been set to watch by Mr. Alpenny, and had been lurking outside the great gates of The Camp."

"I saw him," said Beatrice, recalling the vague shadow which she had seen crouching in the shade on that fatal night.

"He saw you go past," went on Paslow, "and followed to the Witches' Oak like your shadow. When I caught him he told me all this, so I gave him a kicking and let him go. The dog was not worth fouling my hands with. Then I went back to the Oak to find you. You had gone, so I fancied that you had gone home. I did not follow, as I thought that I might run up against Alpenny and that there would be more trouble. I went home to the Grange, and then was coming along the next morning to see you, and give you the key, when I met Durban."

"It was then that you heard of the murder?"

"Yes; and afterwards went up to town to see Alpenny's lawyer about your chances of getting the money. You see, Beatrice, Major Ruck, and other creatures em............